test test test test. >> bill: we look forward to your comments on twitter at bpshow and of course, on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. the gun control issue will heat up this week. president obama back from praising connecticut on its tough stance on gun safety. urging congress to do the same. meanwhile, families of the victims at sandy hook elementary school flew down with the president back to washington on air force i yesterday. they're going to be lobbying members of congress this week. while republicans led by mitch mcconnell say they are going to filibuster any gun legislation on the floor of the senate. in other news, louisville wraps it up over michigan and the u.s.

treasury department has launched an investigation into beyoncé and jay-z's trip to cuba. what a waste of time! lots coming up! all of that and more on current tv. compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first

one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the show they haven't learned one -- to show they haven't learned one damn thing republicans threaten to filibuster any gun safety legislation. hey, what do you say? good morning everybody. great to see you today. it is tuesday, april 9. we're off and running here on today's "full court press." it's our morning town hall where

we bring you the news of the day. whether it's happening here in our nation's capital around the country or around the globe. we'll tell you what's going on and most importantly we invite you to let us know what you think about what's going on. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. standing by to take your calls and hear from as many of you as we can on the air. we're looking for your comments on twitter at bpshow. we're looking for your comments on facebook. be our friend on facebook. we need more friends at billpressshow.com. sorry. all right. help me out. >> you can do this. go to facebook.com/billpressshow. >> bill: i only say it nine times a day. >> what's your name again? >> bill: that's right. and it's good to have you with us today. we've got lots to talk about. president obama a very powerful

speech up in -- not newtown but hartford connecticut yesterday, surrounded by families of the victims of newtown and challenging congress to do something about gun safety. that's where we'll start off this morning. certainly the biggest news of the day. and here with our team this morning, peter ogborn. >> hey hey hey. >> bill: aforementioned here. dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz has the phones. and cyprian bowlding is back from his extended vacation. here he is. >> got him back. >> bill: cyprian back on the video cam this morning. and lots going on. we noted the passing yesterday of maggie thatcher when the news broke. and it was shortly thereafter the news broke about the passing of another great lady, not known as the iron lady but simply known as annette one of the original mouseketeers for the mickey mouse club who was discovered by walt disney

himself. saw her as a child ballet performance as a 12-year-old and said she ought to be one of our mouseketeers. she joined the group. ♪ who's the leader of the pack that's made for me ♪ >> bill: pretty good career, making kind of b sultry, b-list movies but she was always known as annette. she's the only one of the mouseketeers who became a star, no? >> well, there are a lot -- there are a whole new crop of sort of stars that are out there now that got their start on the reborn version of the mickey mouse show but in terms of the originals, yes. >> bill: it was annette. maybe best known because among her boyfriends, paul anka who wrote this song, he was so in love with her wrote this song

in her living room. ♪ and they called it puppy love ♪ >> bill: what a throwback. ♪ i guess they'll never know ♪ >> i had no idea this was written about her. until i read the obituary. >> bill: all right. there you go. >> syrupy song. >> bill: at one time, people liked that music. can you imagine? oh. good to see them on the dance floor hugging tight. slow dance to that one. last one of the night. your last chance. if you can't make it on that song, puppy love -- >> you've got problems. >> bill: here we go. igor volsky will be will be joining us later from think progress as he does every tuesday, bringing us the news of the day. wayne pass ellie the head of the humane society of the united

states one of our good friends doing work on animal rights will be here as well as robert borosage taking a look at the president's budget which presents some real problems for progressives like us. but yes president obama setting the tone yesterday in hartford, connecticut. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> bill: dan, what have we got? >> in sports, an exciting 40 minutes of basketball in atlanta last night where louisville beat michigan for the ncaa national championship 82-76. it is the cardinals' first title since 1986 and third overall. and coach rick pitino becomes the first division i coach to win titles at different schools. he coached kentucky to the championship win in 1996. >> bill: there it is. so i won! i won! i won! i picked louisville. >> i think we all had

louisville. >> bill: who won? >> we all picked louisville except cyprian who picked georgetown who went out in the first round. dan won. >> bill: he had syracuse. >> i'll take it. judge judy is stick around for a little while longer. cbs television announced a signing through 2017 which gives her 21 years on the air. that's her daily syndicated show still watched by ten million people every day on average. more than any other daytime show. >> she gets paid an absurd amount of money. one of the highest paid people on tv. >> $45 million a year. >> $45 million a year is her salary. >> bill: to do that show. >> she was beating oprah in daytime viewership in oprah's final two seasons on network television. >> bill: that's amazing. >> a little while back, we talked about the rare wagner baseball card from 1909 found and planned to be put on the

auction block. it was sold over the weekend in new jersey. according to "the associated press," the baseball card, $2.1 million. wagner was one of the best shortstops of his time at the turn of the century and one of the first five players to be inducted into baseball's hall of fame. >> bill: some people just have -- even in this economy people have too much money. $2 million for a baseball card? >> that is every kid's dream when you're collecting baseball cards is maybe you'll stumble upon at an antique shop or dealer a honus wagner card you can pick up for $1.25. never happened to me. >> bill: that's every collector's dream. that's a coin collector's dream. you go into a ratty old used bookstore like the one around the corner here and you happen to find one that they missed when they were sorting through. there is an original sign, ernest hemingway in great condition, right?

worth $350,000. guess what, it ain't gonna happen. hate to pop your bubble here. president obama on yesterday very very powerful. powerful event up in hartford, connecticut. he spoke at the university of connecticut, surrounded by family members from the victims of newtown connecticut. the president with a very, very powerful message just saying we cannot forget these kids. we cannot forget these teachers that gave their lives for these kids. we are not going to. we'll take this message back to congress and we're going to force congress to act the way the state legislatures in new york and in colorado and in maryland and in connecticut have acted. the president said to reinforce that, i'm even going to take some of the family members back to washington with me. it was a real tour de force yesterday and i would just hope it would be enough to propel this congress to act. he was introduced -- one of the first speakers -- he was

actually introduced by the mother of one of the victims in newtown. before the president spoke the governor, governor dan malloy of connecticut, again saying if we can do it here, why the he will, l can't they do it in washington. >> there's no reason to sit back and there's no reason to be defeated when you can win this kind of battle. we've done it here in the state of connecticut. >> bill: that's a stand-up guy, dan malloy. he showed his stuff. >> that's a guy who's seen the face of gun violence. obviously the parents of the children. he met every one of the parents. >> bill: he's been a real leader. a guy who is not known as a shake-up activist, sort of in your face chris christie governor before this. he certainly has stepped up to the occasion. president obama yesterday, he was on fire, telling the people there in connecticut and telling the people across the country which is true, this should not

be a partisan issue. this is way way way more than democrat or republican. >> obama: this is not about politics. this is about doing the right thing for all of the families that are here who have been torn apart by gun violence. it is about them and all of the families going forward so we can prevent this from happening again. >> bill: president on fire yesterday. wildly enthusiastic crowd. he pledged, you know, he was not going to abandon -- this is an important point. because a lot of cynics around washington are saying that the president doesn't really want a bill. what he wants to do is set up the republicans to kill the bill so nothing will happen and he'll be happy because nothing will happen and also be happy because republicans will be blamed. that is just -- that's just too cynical to believe. it is not true. the president again yesterday saying uh-huh. that's not what this is all about. >> obama: we will not walk away

from the promises we've made. we are determined if ever to do what must be done. in fact, i'm here to ask you to help me show that we can get it done. we're not forgetting. >> bill: we're in it to win it, the president was saying. the message comes down to okay, if connecticut can do it, if new york can do it, if colorado can do it, if maryland can do it why the hell can't the congress? >> obama: connecticut's shown the way. and now is the time for congress to do the same. [ cheering ] >> bill: absolutely. down here in washington, what do we find? the senate and the house coming back in town. we don't know -- haven't even talked about the house much because the bottleneck seems to be in the senate and yesterday mitch mcconnell -- all right let's just remember, this is the republican party that got the hell beat out of it last

november. this is the party that got shellaced last november. this is the party that just came out with a report that said we have to change, we have to open up. we have to be more flexible on some of the important issues. we have to show the american people that they care. 90% of the american people say they want universal background checks as part of any gun safety legislation. what are republicans doing? mitch mcconnell yesterday joined 13 other republicans so far in the senate who said they will filibuster any gun safety legislation. filibuster it. meaning not even allow it to come up for a vote. meaning such chickens that they won't even stand up and debate it. or vote up or down. john mccain -- you know what i think about john mccain -- not much these days. john mccain on face the nation sunday at least had the common sense to say what the hell is

that all about? >> the purpose of the united states senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand. >> you would encourage republicans -- >> i would not only encourage it i don't understand it. what are we afraid of? why not take it up? the american people will profit from it. >> that's the way to do it. you know what? the president in his inaugural address and in his state of the union, what does he ask for? he has laid out what he think ought to be done. background checks. assault weapons ban. ban on high-magazine clips. doing something about mental health and straw purchases too. what does he ask for? one thing. a vote. he asks for a vote on every one of them. and damn it, we deserve a vote. and that's where i think the republicans are making a huge mistake. this is where they're going to take a stand? they're going to take a stand.

they might as well have been up there dancing on the bodies of the 20 little 6-year-olds from newtown that day. they're thumbing their nose at those kids by not allowing a vote on this issue. as harry reid said, shame on them! you tell me. 1-866-55-press. why the republicans take a stand against a vote on this gun safety legislation. it is -- it is the west thing i've seen from this congress ever, i think. 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it. i don't get it. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv.

the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv.

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: igor volsky from think progress joining us for the next half hour here for our little roundtable of the news. peter, we're talking about president obama continuing to push for gun safety legislation. very aggressive push on the part of the president. bringing back to washington with him on air force i members of the families of the victims of sandy hook elementary school back on december 14. they will be lobbying members of congress today. i would like to see these chicken you know what senators, republican senators starting with mitch mcconnell look

these parents in the eyes and say we don't care about your kids, we're not going to do anything about guns. we want more kids to be killed. >> on twitter we're at bpshow. paul says the harder obama makes the case for gun control the tougher the resistance from the g.o.p. they're the party that glorify violence. bill doesn't get why the g.o.p. won't take a vote. i can explain it with three letters, nra. >> bill: that's true. i think -- they've gotta choose between nra and those kids as far as i'm concerned. i just can't believe at some point, you know, they have to recognize this is the right thing to do. and i think the president's right. it is above politics on this issue. and you know, you don't have to even say it. nobody's taking anybody's gun away. right now, the background checks. we have a background check. you go to a gun store, you have to have a criminal background check. why shouldn't you have to do

that at a gun show? why shouldn't you have to do that if it's a private purpose. if it is right for some guns, it is right for all guns. it is common sense. it is not a political issue. paul is calling from kansas. >> caller: first time caller. love your show. >> bill: thank you. >> caller: i can't get over this. you know, i'm 57. years ago, i remember these republicans, when they lost, they still used to work with the democrats. i don't understand it nowadays. >> bill: that was then. right? long time ago paul. right. >> caller: long time ago bill. >> bill: they're not going to agree on all of this gun safety stuff. i understand it. they ought to sit down and say here's where we can agree. but instead mitch mcconnell and the others are saying we're just going to filibuster it, right? >> caller: yep. >> bill: it is a ticket, i think -- it is a ticket to the end of the republican party that continue to act this way.

stuart, good friend from st. petersburg. what do you say? hey, stuart, turn down your radio and talk to me. go ahead. >> caller: okay. i want to report -- >> bill: i don't know what's going on with stuart. >> sorry stuart. >> bill: what was going on there? >> who knows. >> bill: that didn't sound like stuart. >> one comment we did get on twitter that we talked about a lot says shame on senator reid for not reforming the filibuster. we had one. we would see a gun law on the floor of the senate. >> bill: i forget now what the other issue was a couple of weeks ago. it was the same thing where we said this is the second time that i can recall already early in this session that failure to reform the filibuster has backfired on harry reid and backfired on democrats. that's a good part of it. if we had done that, the republicans won't be able to use

it. but the fact that they're using it on this gun issue unbelievable. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: you bet it is. 33 minutes after the hour now here on a tuesday morning. tuesday, april 9. so if you really want to know what's going on on -- name the issue, whether it is gun control which we've been talking about or healthcare or immigration or climate change, you name it. here's how to find it. you go to thinkprogress.org.

it is laid all out for you or better yet, you tune in on tuesday morning here, halfway through the first hour and hear it all from igor volsky who is the managing editor of think progress, part of the center for american progress, of course. igor, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning. happy to be here. >> bill: thank you for rolling in another day. i love this headline here on think progress. why the modern republican party would reject margaret thatcher. yesterday, as soon as she died, everybody said oh, my god you know like ronald reagan, she walked on water. she's a conservative. we should all follow. of course, they say that about ronald reagan who could probably not get elected today in a republican party primary. you say the same thing about maggie thatcher? the iron lady? >> well, a conservative politician to be sure and one who certainly in england divides people and there's been

some celebrations in some places in england about her death. so a big leader, a world leader. >> bill: but not everybody loved her. >> right. not everybody loved her. in the states, she is really an idol for a lot of republicans. you heard sarah palin famelessly proclaim she looks up to maggie thatcher. of course, before 2008, she didn't know who maggie thatcher was. "vanity fair" profile. >> bill: she couldn't see her. >> wanted to meet her. but look -- >> bill: maggie wouldn't meet with her. she said it was beneath her. >> that was during the campaign. the question is how does she fit into the ideological mold of today's republicans. today's republicans have moved as you say so far to the right from ronald reagan and in many instances from maggie thatcher. few people know that she was one

of the first politicians big leaders to call out climate change. and to say the earth is changing, we don't know how and we better watch out. she was a big proponent of the national healthcare system in britain. which, in britain is far more public than it is even under the affordable care act. >> bill: it is government-run health insurance. >> and britain has a long history of taxing more and spending more and when she left office, the ratio of spending to taxation, there was more taxation when she left after those 11 years than when she came in. she increased the vat value-added tax in britain. so the picture is a little hazy for these republicans. stockman, steve stockman from texas -- >> how can you forget? >> oh, goodness.

well, he issued, i think one of the most inflammatory press releases about her death saying her death should inspire all republicans and conservatives to fight liberals and specifically obama and he asked what have you done to defeat liberalism today. thatcher did it. you need to also. he hasn't read our post clearly. >> bill: maggie thatcher, right, who recognized this reading from your post. recognized gun laws. she was pro gun control. she raised taxes. she was pro socialized medicine. as they call it. and she believed in climate change. yeah. >> well, on the other hand, she also took down the labor unions and feminism and everything else. >> also, yesterday i learned she was part of a british research team. she was a chemist. that invented soft serve ice cream.

>> we couldn't figure out progressives conservatives -- >> you need to read into the pieces because you gotta have in there. that's the greatest thing she did. >> bill: ice cream? >> you bring up the lean in, the book and the idea that women can kind of mold feminism and make it -- take advantage of it to succeed. there is an argument to be made that maggie thatcher who rose during a period when politics was dominated by men particularly in britain really leaned in and made it her own and rose to the top. we all remember from the meryl streep movie but how they told her how ho sit and talk. didn't like the feminists but in many ways, i think paveed a way for women in some regards. >> bill: maggie thatcher, ladies and gentlemen. so the u.s. treasury department is spending our tax dollars on a big, new investigation. they launched yesterday again.

i have found this, discovered this by reading think progress as i do several times a day. they are investigating how beyoncé and jay-z got to cuba to spend three nights celebrating their anniversary. oh, my god. this is worthy of the united states government investigation. >> we really need to look into it. >> bill: what's going on? >> i'm glad they're on top of it. two republicans from florida called for this investigation and i can't remember the last time republicans wanted to investigate rich people breaking the law. i can't. but here finally they're at it. how do they get to cuba? why are they in cuba. what kind of visa did they get? this people to people visa. now there is some news that the government approved the visa. what's going on? why did it happen? a whole letter to the department of justice. demanding to know.

i'm sorry, to the treasury department. >> bill: we'll talk about this at the top of next hour. so more. but here's what gets me is why didn't the treasury department just say this isn't worth our time? if you're a member of congress and you want to hold a hearing fine. you spend your dollars we aren't going to spend our time. why would the obama administration sink so low as to take this up? i don't get it. >> there might be some mechanism of processing these requests but look, i don't understand the republican strategy here. you come out against background checks which 90% of americans support. you come out against beyoncé which a lot of americans like and enjoy. what's the third? how is this rebranding strategy going? g.o.p. >> bill: in terms of reaching out -- >> reaching out to beyond your base. >> bill: speaking of reaching out, the president will be reaching out tomorrow. presenting and sending his budget up to the congress.

it was due in february. it was going to be coming along later. but already, there won't be any secrets. it has been leaked as is -- the way things happen in washington, d.c., everything is leaked a few days ahead of time to get the news out there and to get the bad news or good news out there. on the president's budget, all i've heard is the bad news. he is putting -- chain cpi is in there as well as some cuts to medicare. why? of course, they'll tell us what it is all about. >> in past years the president has put out this ambitious budget, the obama agenda. what he wants ideally to pass. now the administration is saying look, we all know that kind of document, it's not going anywhere. republicans aren't going to go for it. so what they did is they took the final offer obama made to speaker boehner during the grand bargain negotiations in december of 2011, took that out detailed

it some more and put it together and that's now his budget. of course, the concern is that one, republicans already rejected this in december of 2011 and two by embracing the compromise and make it the obama budget it is no longer a compromise. and so the fear is it's the obama position if you have any additional negotiations, you're only going to move to the right. now, the administration says don't worry don't worry we're not going to move anymore. this is pretty much our final offer. we're only going to do the chain cpi if it is part of this larger package. if it includes new revenues. if there are protections for the lowest income seniors which is the biggest concern in chain cpi is that they're going to get hit. but we'll see how it plays. republicans have already -- leadership have rejected it saying he just got a tax increase. we don't need another tax increase. we need more spending cuts. there are some senators, lindsey

graham on "meet the press" on sunday said let's consider this. there might be some wiggle room. he might be serious as they call it. paul ryan also on local radio said yesterday it shows that he's serious. for a lot of progressives, serious means he's willing to cut entitlements, he's willing to cut medicare and social security. he's willing to make regular people feel the pain. that's serious. in their minds. so a lot of folks are upset and you know, they certainly have a lot to gripe about on this. >> bill: i had lunch with several presidents of labor unions yesterday. here in washington. and the point that they were making is if you are negotiating and you sit down at the table to negotiate, you don't start your opening move is not -- that you might eventually give up. you probably don't want to give up those things anyhow but you

certainly don't start by giving up because if you start there you're going to end up giving more. >> the big philosophical question they have to answer is why does the economy need more, such big spending reduction cuts at this point when he's already done 1.2 1.7 trillion. why does the economy need more? don't we need stimuluses -- >> bill: plus the question, if indeed, social security does not contribute to the deficit which we know it doesn't and the president has said over and over and over again why would he even consider chained cpi which is going to cut benefits to some seniors. just one of the issues here we're dealing with in washington. and the white house is dealing with. igor volsky is on top of all of it as managing editor of think progress. join the conversation, 1-866-55-press. we'll continue here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning, april 9. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. we are scanning the day's big stories with igor volsky from think progress on the "full court press." your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. but first here's a continuing item that we see in the news. that's identity theft. this story out of texas. i.d. thieves reportedly calling senior citizens in texas

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>> bill: so, igor, you know, just on the political front for just a second, there's a lot of talk about jeb bush running for president. people are saying is the country ready for a third bush? well now, the question may be, are people really ready peter for a third clinton? >> we talked yesterday about how people are already asking the question whether or not hillary clinton -- they've already moved past hillary. she was on "the today show." they asked her whether or not chelsea clinton would run for office one day and she actually had a very interesting response. >> right now i'm grateful to live in the state and country where i support my mayor and my governor and my president and my senators and my representatives. if, at some point that weren't true and i thought i could make a meaningful and measurably greater impact, i would have to answer that question. >> let's just say, i know we're not really talking about hillary

clinton right now -- >> bill: we're not. we refuse to. >> let's say she's running for president. she's going to need a running mate. clinton/clinton. [ laughter ] >> clinton the next generation, right? >> you've got one for the price of three or three for the price of one. >> just sayin'. think about it. >> bill: you know what? chelsea, i'll speculate chelsea will run for office. she's got it in her genes. she's got it double in her genes, don't you think? >> at some point we'll see her run. >> bill: she's handled herself well. really as a young professional and has a lot to offer. i love that. it is sort of like putting -- sending out the warning. if i'm not happy with who the mayor is or who the governor is -- or even who the senator or president is, then here i come. how about it. >> bill: you had an interesting -- well, first last

time you were in, we talked about the flood of democratic senators moving to change their position from opposed to same-sex marriage to supporting it. i think it was maybe ten democrats who had not yet done so when you were here last week. yesterday, it was four. today, it is three. every day. >> tim johnson the retiring democrat from south dakota, everyone thought what's taking him so long because he kind of took a baby step. he said let me come out against the defense of marriage act and then yesterday, said i've evolved. i've given this a lot of thought and i now support marriage equality which, at this point i don't know what kind of process they're going through but it is a lot faster than anything darwin could have imagined. as soon as the court started hearing -- you saw this cascade. in fact, somebody made a chart to show how the pace of

people -- of politicians embracing marriage equality and it peaks at this month because it has been a tidal wave. a welcome tidal wave. let's turn the momentum into employment protections for gay and lesbian americans federal standards, you can't be fired for sexual orientation or gender identity. now, just three democrats left. let's name them. mark pryor of arkansas who, over the weekend told local reporters that he's not even sure if being gay is a choice. he hasn't thought about it. he's talked to some gay people. he told them it isn't. he respects what they say but he hasn't given it too much thought. he's still thinking, still evolving. in some direction. then you have mary landrieu from louisiana who's going to be running for office. new poll came out today. running for re-election. she's under 50. she's in trouble. of course, we found out that marriage equality doesn't play poorly as the president learned and a lot of lawmakers learned

despite the so-called conventional wisdom. that's quickly changing. and the third one is joe manchin from west virginia who is not up for re-election. he just won his seat. so unclear what he's waiting for. today is the day joe. >> bill: i understand why joe wouldn't switch because there are no gays in west virginia. >> there are no homosexuals. >> bill: they just don't go there. those three. we'll get it down to do in a couple of days. we're out of time, igor volsky. always good to have you in studio. >> good to be here. >> bill: thanks for all of the great work you're doing at think progress. thinkprogress.org. make it your home page. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: oh, boy oh, boy lots of e-mails about crossfire coming back. thomas -- what's bill think about bringing crossfire back? as i said yesterday, original classic crossfire bob november ac, pat buchanan me, michael kingsley, great idea. if it is that old gong show they turned crossfire into, forget about it. that was a joke. bruce says i was a big fan of the original crossfire. i can only imagine what the new version would look like. i see justin bieber and kim

kardashian. as the cohosts. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning friends and neighbors. and welcome to the "full court press" coming to you live on current tv. everywhere in this great country of ours, we're there with you this morning to tell you what's going on in our nation's capital. around the country and around the globe. we're coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. just down the street from the united states capitol where the house and senate came back

yesterday to meet a fired up president obama. he was up in hartford, connecticut, yesterday. speaking at the university of connecticut, an impassioned plea recognizing the great work the connecticut legislature did on the issue of gun safety and making an impassioned plea for the congress to follow the example of the legislators in connecticut. then the president flew back here to washington on air force i, bringing family members of the victims of sandy hook elementary school back to washington with him to lobby members of congress on the issue of gun safety. let's see how congress stands up to them. meanwhile, maybe we're already seeing it. mitch mcconnell joined 13 other republican senators saying they will filibuster any gun safety legislation not even allow a vote. in other news, louisiana -- i'm sorry, louisville did it. louisville beating michigan to

win the ncaa. and the treasury department that's where we'll start at the top of this hour, investigating the cuba visit of beyoncé and jay-z. you'll find that and more right here on current tv. commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama in hartford connecticut, saying if the connecticut legislature can act, why can't the united states congress act on gun safety? good question. we'll find out. hey, hello everybody. what do you say? good morning, good morning. it is tuesday. tuesday, april 9. great to see you today. this is the "full court press."

we're coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. we're coming to you live on current tv. we're bringing you the news of the day. here from our nation's capital from around the country and around the globe we've got it covered and we will make sure that you know the big stories of the day. not only that, we'll give you a chance to tell us what you think about it. 1-866-55-press. our phone lines always open. that's our toll free number. 1-866-55-press. we're also looking and following your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. no excuse for not joining the show because you can do it so many different ways on twitter on facebook and by the phone line. finally, joining the chat room, go to current.com click on the

chat room and you're in, talking about giving your comments to all of your other "full court pressers" across the land. we've got so much to talk about. whole team here this morning. yes, indeed. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: hey hey hey. alichia cruz on the phones. taking care of your calls. cyprian bowlding, he is back from extended vacation. more than he deserves. [ laughter ] back to his job this morning. >> people were a little scared because -- on the video cam. on friday of last week, cyprian was late. he had that -- >> bill: m.i.a. >> shall we say his little trip. then when he wasn't here on monday, people were very worried about cyprian. so he had some bills he had to make in atlantic city. >> bill: he's out of rehab. back on the job this morning.

>> he's doing fine. he appreciates your prayers. >> bill: you know, it is sort of -- i feel kind of a letdown you know. all of this march madness and all of the build-up and everything i mean last night's game was sort of, okay, yeah. >> last night was one of the most exciting college basketball games ever. >> absolutely. >> bill: no! really? >> i don't know what game you were watching. >> bill: i didn't watch any of it. it seems like a letdown because we all knew louisville was going to win. >> it was a close game. it was a very close game. >> bill: 82-76. >> that's a close game. >> bill: no overtime. >> well, i mean -- >> bill! >> bill: it seems like a letdown to me. this is the way it ends. this is the way the world ends with a whimper, not with a bang. >> i'm not sure what to say to

that. last night's game was phenomenal. phenomenal. >> bill: all right. >> i'm sorry. >> bill: i think a big upset would have been a better ending to this thing. >> it nearly was. michigan played a hell of a game. they were two very evenly matched teams. >> bill: i'll tell you who liked the game. rick pitino. the louisville coach, he liked the game. >> two great offensive teams doing battle, two great backcourts great frontcourts great talent. happy to see that. they knew it would be a great game. didn't know we would win but i knew it would be a great game. >> bill: he was very happy with the way it turned out. >> the offensive teams were gunning last night. they were going all out. >> bill: wayne pa celli will

be here in studio with us from the national humane society. they're even into the gun control issue. interesting to find out how. robert borosage from the campaign for america's future here to tackle the president's gunnel -- budget which comes out tomorrow. olivier knox who covers yahoo! news will be here as a "friend of bill." and the u.s. treasury department investigating beyoncé's trip to cuba. why? but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> still in sports, louisville has a chance at a second national championship in as many days. tonight after the men won the lady cardinals face off against the university of connecticut who, by the way is playing for his eighth championship win that would tie tennessee for the most in women's basketball's history. >> bill: what if louisville

could do a double hitter? >> that would be huge. >> u-conn is a tough team to beat. >> u-conn is hands down the best women's basketball team. louisville has looked phenomenal. >> the former rutgers university athletic director who resigned under controversy last week is walking away with quite the sweet deal. associated press got ahold of pernetti's settlement agreement including $1.2 million in salary, an ipad, a car allowance of $12,000 a year and two years' worth of health insurance coverage. plus the university will represent him in any lawsuit related to his old job and he agreed not to disparage the university publicly. they will not speak ill of him as well. >> bill: boy, you get a lot of perks for beating up your players, right? >> what kind of a douche do you have to be -- on your way out the door, i want an ipad, too. i want all of this money, the

car allowance and yeah, you better throw in an ipad. >> bill: the fact that the university gave him all of that -- obscene. >> a sad day in the entertainment world yesterday as we learned that one of the original mouseketeers passed away. annette funicello dying at the age of 70 became a mouseketeer at the age of 12 and starred alongside franky avalon in the beach party movies in the 1960s. >> would never wear aic about even in i in the beach party movies because walt disney said please maintain the image of the mouseketeers. don't wear a bikini so she wouldn't wear one even in her post-mouseketeer years. won't see her in playboy right? i want to talk about this latest flap which i think is ridiculous. get your take on it, too. the latest flap meaning beyoncé and jay-z went to cuba.

oh, my god. you are might think they committed adultery on the steps of the united states capitol. of course, that's been done before. >> of course it has. >> bill: rita genrette, google it. they were celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. they wanted to do something special. i don't know. i don't care how they got there. travel to cuba, of course, is limited. we've had this stupid embargo against cuba ever since the days of -- you know who put it in place? john f. kennedy president john f. kennedy back in 1962. we had an embargo against cuba ever since. there are two countries on the planet that will not trade with cuba. the united states and israel. israel only because we have

asked them not to and so they said yes you keep giving us money, you got a deal. we won't trade with cuba. everybody else does. everybody else is doing business down there. this is one issue on which the chamber of commerce and bill press agree. the only issue. it is monumentally stupid not to be doing business with cuba. it is no longer -- never was never was a threat to the united states. mini second in time when sow gets then the soviet union and president kennedy very successfully blockaded cuba and khruschchev didn't want a nuclear war so he blinked and took the missiles out. that's been over for 15 years. still we treat cuba as if we're afraid they're going to invade miami any day. monumentally stupid. there are tremendous

opportunities down there for american carmakers for american car -- hotel owners, american farmers, you name it. we ought to be down there -- cuba is building up. everybody else is doing it. when i was down there the hotels were being built by spain, by the netherlands by canada. by every other country but us. and it is just crazy. and if you really want to open up cuba, if you really want to show cubans what democracy is all about, the more americans go there, the better. the more exchanges there are the better. the more american dollars go there, the better. they will see those who are not yet convinced that the communist system just doesn't work and it is not good for the people of

cuba. anyhow, all of that -- what happened here was -- pardon me -- beyoncé and jay-z celebrating their fifth anniversary again. they go down to cuba. they spent three nights there. they went out to dinner and by the way they went out to dinner where me and my -- carol and i and our kids went out to dinner to what are called palo varas. they're privately owned restaurants, they're not really restaurants, they're people's homes. people can get a license to serve meals in their own homes. and they're great. you sit and -- most of them don't have dining rooms their houses aren't that big. they sit in the living room and they serve you dinner just like they would have dinner. >> that's cool. >> bill: put a price on it. it is great. you get to know the people. the way they do. they had dinner in three palavares and then two

republican members of congress from florida of course, ros-lehtinen say how did the movie stars get down to cuba? did they go under the limited exchange with educational religious exchanges allowed today? and if not who's responsible? did the u.s. government do this? they demanded an investigation by the u.s. treasury department which handles the visas to cuba. what do you know? the treasury department announced yesterday they've opened an investigation into this -- don't we have more important things we're doing with our tax dollars? this is ridiculous. don't you think? 1-866-55-press. and you know, even -- i'll tell you where i'm really disappointed president obama -- i remember when president clinton was in office, i personally lobbied -- personally, at the white house lobbied president clinton and

secretary of state madeleine albright she'll tell you this, to open up relations with cuba. i said mr. president, madam secretary, this is your turn. this is crazy to have this policy of this continued embargo and no american visits back and forth with cuba. and you got the opportunity open it up right now. he didn't. and now president obama's got the opportunity. but here's the latest we've heard from him was last year -- no september 2011 where he is still talking kind of the old talk about cuba. >> what we've tried to do is to send a signal that we are open to relationship with cuba if the cuban government starts taking the proper steps to open up its own country.

>> bill: we'll do this if cuba does this. we'll do this but not until castro i don'ts. come on, castro's not going to i don't. he's never going to dye. we've been waiting 90 years for castro to die. it is ridiculous, crazy. open it up. we shouldn't be investigating why beyoncé and jay-z went down there. we ought to let the cubans come here and sending more americans down there. 1-866-55-press. let me tell you go down there. go down there. if you go down there you'll find -- you'll see great people, great beaches. a country that is just ready to take off and you will hear great music. everywhere. music everywhere. maybe even the social club. we'll get into that when we come back. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show."

date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: there they are. the social club. ♪a little taste of the music -- i was just struck when we were in cuba, you go into any restaurant at lunchtime breakfast time, there would be live music. and people dancing among the tables. and bands out in the street and

everything. everywhere you looked. very festive place. i'm not saying it is not a repressive place. it is, as well. and repressive -- i think looking at the cuban government is all the evidence you need that communism does not work but we could help overthrow it. not by pretending it is the enemy that is ever going to innovate us but by overwhelming them with good economic activity and showing what we can do. peter, some comments? >> couple of comments from twitter at bpshow is where you can find us. robbie says of course they should be investigating. remember the last time an american came back from a tropical location with a plane full of prescription drugs. oh wait, that was rush limbaugh. >> bill: in the dr. >> g kane says american corporations are still doing business in cuba. just using their foreign

subsidiaries. why not let people travel there. >> bill: yeah. doesn't make any sense at all. ray calling from -- we can go to vietnam -- ray's calling from tempe, arizona. hey, ray, what do you say? good morning. >> caller: as far as i'm concerned, all of the cubans that are in miami can go back. i remember elian gonzalez, that probably cost gore the election. everything that's happened since then, i put on their backs. they were the ones that kicked the election in favor of bush. >> bill: yeah. well, that would help with the supreme court down there at that time, right. but no, you're right. i say -- you know, these hard core anti-castro cubans in miami who have been running american foreign policy, especially -- a policy toward cuba for the last 50 years yeah, let them go back. they're living the good life in miami. and they're keeping the people

of cuba in poverty with their policy. there is no doubt that the embargo -- it doesn't hurt the leadership of cuba. it doesn't hurt the elite of cuba. it hurts the cuban people. danny is out in chicago. what do you say? good morning. >> caller: good morning, hey guys. i just want to let you know that anybody can go to cuba. just make it part of your mexican vacation. if you fly down to mexico, you can book a flight from anywhere in mexico from cuba and cuba will not stamp your passport. >> bill: you know what? you're absolutely right. we're not encouraging people to break the law but that is -- some people say that's probably how beyoncé and jay-z got there. i remember when i went to cuba, we flew down to maybe it was -- i forget what city in mexico. did the same thing and walked across the airport from one gate to another like a connecting flight and got on a flight to

havana and there we were. call me a criminal. i've been to cuba. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey hello everybody. it is 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning. april 9. i gotta tell you we were complaining last week, it was a little chilly in the capital. cherry blossoms weren't out and where was spring.

the i think we skipped spring. it is summer now in our nation's capital. it was so warm yesterday everybody was walking around in shorts and t-shirts. it is a beautiful day here in our nation's capital. i hope it a beautiful day wherever you happen to be. it is the "full court press." we're coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. brought to you today by the national education association. the good men and women of the nea under president dennis van roekel creating great public schools for every student in america. you bet. for more information, go to their web site at nea.org. we were talking cuba and we'll be glad to take your e-mail comments on cuba at billpressshow.com. but a lot of other issues we wanted to get into. for some time, there have been issues related to animal rights that kept telling us we've got to get our friend, wayne pacelli

back in studio, president of the humane society of the united states that many of you belong to. here he is. wayne, haven't seen you in awhile. welcome back. >> glad to be here. >> bill: thanks for coming in. you know the whole team here. >> sure do. >> hey hey hey. >> bill: you know, i tell you been saving things up for you wayne. i want to start with horses. on a couple of fronts. we saw news that there was a scare that -- in europe that there was some horse meat found in what people thought were beef products but also news they may start slaughtering horses again for human consumption in the united states. what's going on and what have you guys been doing about it? >> we're very active on it, bill. horse helped us settle the nation. there is no animal that's had a more important role in our expansion than the horse.

before the internal combustion engine, horses were the way we got around. it is the way we blazed across the country. in general throughout human history, horses have altered notions of time and space for humans. in our country partly because of the allegiance that we've had to the horse because of all they've done for us, they've never been raised for food. you don't have horse farms where the animals are raised for food. you have horse farms for pleasure horses or for racing or other purposes but not for food. but there is some limited demand for horse meat in the world. in japan, in italy. i'm sorry to say with my italian heritage. also in belgium and france. the u.s. has more horses than any country in the world. and there are opportunistic people who randomly gather. they bunch horses together and they ship them to slaughter plants in north america. historically, there were several plants in the united states. now they're all shuttered but

there are plants over the border in canada and also in mexico. so last year, 160,000 american horses, most of them perfectly healthy, not candidates for euthanasia not animals in fim or dying because the meat industry doesn't want those animals. they want fully intact and younger animals for the better meat, they were shipped to these plants in canada and mexico. the main market being europe. europe, as you mentioned had this big mislabeling issue that beef products that people thought they were buying, it was going to be cow raised in europe or somewhere else, turned out to be horse. and this, of course, has thrown the global horse meat trade into a tizzy and ironically, at the very time when the horse slaughterers should be laying low in the united states, they're trying to legalize horse slaughter in the united states. the oklahoma legislature passed

a bill to authorize the opening of a slaughter plant and several other states have applications into the u.s. department of agriculture which would be forced to place inspectors at the horse plants just as they do for cattle plants and for pig plants. >> bill: there's no federal prohibition against it, is there? >> no, there's not. >> bill: a state could thorrize -- >> a state can authorize it if it doesn't have a statute. illinois california, other states do -- but oklahoma repealed its ban. for several years the congress did have language, forbidding the expenditure of federal funds to inspect horse slaught plants so there was funding limitation language in an agriculture spending bill. that limited that. that was not renewed. there is however authorizing legislation so legislation that would forbid slaughtering horses in the u.s. and also live exports of horses to other

countries because that's what's going on. the killer buyers go to horse auctions in pennsylvania or ohio or texas. these guys buy up horses. people think they're going to get rid of to sell -- people think they're going to get rid of to sell to some other loving owner and it turns out to be a guy who doesn't disclose what he does. they load them up on a truck and ship them to manitoba or some state in mexico and they slaughter horses and process them shrink-wrap it, send it over to europe and french and belgian consumers consume the meat. >> bill: let me push back on a couple of points. isn't horse racing -- you know, another maybe equal form of cruelty for horses? >> well, it is all tied together bill, in this way. this is a point i wanted to bring out. these horses are different than cattle and pigs in that they're not raised for food. and horses, whether they're coming off the track or they're

a pleasure horse, are doped up with all sorts of substances that are forbidden for pigs and cattle like -- a drug forbidden for animals. there are substances feed horses that are unsuitable so the horses coming off the track are unsuited. now horse racing has its own set of issues which i think you noted, breakdowns. one, the horses aren't winning showing or placing they're sent off to a killer buyer for horse slaughter. >> bill: really? >> that is a problem. there are a fair number of thoroughbreds and quarter horses and other animals that get into the pipeline for slaughter. >> bill: the other thing is, so i lived in -- i went to school in switzerland for a couple of years and i consumed a good deal of horse meat. i lived in a house that didn't have a lot of money. i remember going to the butcher store. you knew what you were buying.

this was not mislabeling. >> yes. >> bill: bought it, consumed it. so if we do eat -- if you don't eat meat at all that's one issue but if you're eating cow or you're eating pig why not eat horse? >> well, it is labeled properly in some countries. but now we've seen it is not labeled property in some circumstances. so i think there is a dishonesty issue at work. number two, i think it is unsafe. you just don't know. even though you ate it, you were relying on government authorities to assure that the meat was of sufficient quality and it wasn't adulterated. what we have found in our investigations is that just about all of the horses are doped up with substances that we should not be consuming. >> bill: your position, of the humane society against slaughter of horses in this country for consumption and against consumption of horse meat, is that correct? >> yes.

and it's -- just to be very clear. it is grounded on the notion that certain animals aren't suitable for food. but there are very practical arguments that buttress our underlying argument and the food safety issue is something that i don't know how anyone side steps it. >> bill: there's no doubt. the horses are more than baseball players right? >> exactly. >> bill: pumped up with everything. >> lance armstrong can run right with these horses here. >> bill: wayne i also was interested to see wayne pacelle our guest of the humane society humanesociety.org is the web site. you have tangled with the nra. didn't expect you to come -- but i saw some stories noting that the humane society has been tangling with the nra over some gun safety -- battle initiatives. how so? >> well, we are not an organization that is focused on gun control per se. but obviously we're very concerned about all animals.

our magazine is called all animals. the original mission statement of the organization was about all animals. our current mission statement is celebrating animals confronting cruelty and we're concerned about wildlife. we're concerned about cruelty to animals in general. and there are practices that are legal in this country that are problematic for wildlife in terms of cruelty practices like bear baiting where hunters set out jelly doughnuts and pizza and rotting meat, put it in a barrel and then they hide up in a tree and wait for the bear to stick his or her head in the barrel and then shoot the bear in the ass. while, you know -- >> bill: real sportsmanship. >> so they do that for a trophy. we don't think that's sporting. we don't think that is fair. we've tangled with the nra on

that issue. we tangled with them on the use of dogs and hunting predators. release packs of dogs. the dogs have radio transmitters on their collars. monitors where the dogs are going. follows the dogs. maybe 500 yards behind. long enough to keep up with the dogs. sometimes the bear or lion turns and fights the dogs which results in an animal fighting situation. eventually, the animal will run up a tree to escape the pack of hounds and then the hunter using the hand-held directional antenna will shoot the animal out of the tree. there are other issues like lead shot. lead is banned in paints, it is banned in construction. it is banned in so many aspects of our environment because it is one of the longest known toxins that exist. but it is used in ammunition. when a hunter shoots a deer or an elk the fragments and the

hunter leaves the gut pile and all sorts of other animals feed on the pile, poigdz them in the -- poisoning them in the process. there are other circumstances where the hunter shoots the animal and isn't able to retrieve it or doesn't make an effort to retrieve the animal then the body is loaded with lead and animals like endangered california condors feed on the carcass of the animal. it is number one source of mortality is lead poisoning. millions are poisoned every year. it was banned around 1990 by the u.s. fish and wildlife service for water fowl hunting because so many birds are being hunted but it is permissible for the species. you've got copper and bismuth and other nontoxic shot. so our position at the nra i think is similar to the gun control groups, they'll defend anything, the nra. there's no limits to what they'll defend. the worst practices.

>> bill: and reasonable limits the humane society is pushing for the nra. just touching the surface here with wayne pacelle with the humane society. we'll continue our conversation on the other side of the break here. give us a call at 1-866-55-press with your questions and your comments. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> bill: 11 minutes before the top of the hour.

robert borosage from the campaign for america's future is going to join us in the next hour. to talk about the president's budget coming out tomorrow. right now, we're talking very important issues related to animal rights with the humane society and the humane society's president, wayne pacelle humanesociety.org is the web site. wayne, sunday in "the new york times," pretty shocking piece on the front page that state after state after state you and i have talked before -- and i have way back to when i was doing television in los angeles 100 years ago it seems about practices on some of the factory farms where you know, the conditions that chickens or pigs or cows are kept in for slaughter is just unbelievably cruel. and you and other organizations have done a lot to relieve that, perhaps and get some improvements by people

videotaping this and showing it. and showing what's happening but yet state after state after state now is trying to prevent you from doing so. right? >> yes. bill, we're very disassociated from the food supply chain. we're getting food in the supermarket and the restaurant and the animal products may be coming from 1,000 or 2,000 or more miles away. and many of the animals now were raised on these industrialized facilities that we call factory farms. animals are not out in pasture. they're not feeling soil beneath their feet. they're raised in windowless buildings in many cases especially for the pigs, the breeding -- for laying hens or producing eggs, they're confined in cages barely larger than their bodies. we have gone undercover to show the american public what's going on on these farms. we think that's relevant because every american is consuming these products from our farms.

we've exposed not just issues like the immobilization of animals in these tiny cage where is they can't move but also dragging of downer cows, cows too sick or injured to walk in the slaughter plants. >> bill: i've seen the video. >> people kicking or club clubbing with a blunt object because animals aren't moving as fast as they want. horrible cruelty. our investigations led to the largest meat recalls in american history. prosecutions of people who exhibited malicious cruelty to animals. new food safety rules as a consequence of what we've done. as you said in your set-up, we now have a raft of states considering legislation driven by the farm bureau and also the american legislative exchange council. >> bill: alec. koch brothers. >> yes. that are trying to not clean up the farms. and make them exhibit best practices and connect people with the food supplies and say

hey, let me show you how we're doing it. you can feel confident about the animal products you're consuming but to say no, it is going to be a crime for the humane society to document animal cruelty. so ten states now have the bills this year. that are being considered. three states enacted them last year. six states have enacted them over the last few years. so we are forbidden in north dakota montana missouri, kansas and a couple of other states from taking pictures of animals on these farms. and as i said, ten states, indiana is the hottest state this year, lawmakers are saying it is the number one issue in the state in terms of constituent correspondence. most of it, the vast majority coming against it from members of the humane society from the press association from labor so many different entities concerned about this sort of anti-transparency effort. >> bill: it is outrageous. rather than fix the problem right, they're going to go after

you and brand you as a criminal for highlighting what the problem is. >> you know, we have a history in this country with social reform movements of lawmakers trying to suppress efforts. whether it is jim crowe laws or -- we can give you several other examples. now we're in this moment with animal welfare that powerful interests do not want things to change. they're trying to wrap a curtain around the factory farm so no one can see them. >> bill: unbelievable. this is something we've really got to all get involved in and fight and the way to do so is to go to the humanesociety.org and follow their lead to take action on this issue. wayne pacelle you're a real crusader for a very important cause and very good of you to take time to come in and join us this morning. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me on. >> bill: humanesociety.org. we'll be right back to tell you what the president is up to today. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: olivier knox here from yahoo! news as a "friend of bill" for the next hour. president obama today three big events on his schedule. the daily briefing at 10:30 this morning. 3:00 this afternoon he and the v.p. will be meeting with defense secretary chuck hagel and then this evening, the president and the first lady host a concert celebrating memphis soul music. as part their performance in the white house series. that ought to be a great night in the east room. jay carney will be meeting with

us white house reporters at 11:30 this morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning my fellow americans and welcome to the "full court press" on this tuesday. tuesday, april 9. good to see you today. you want to know what's going on, here is the place to find out. we'll tell you what's happening in our nation's capital. that's where you'll find us on capitol hill here. our studio on capitol hill down the street from the united states congress. we'll tell you what's going on here and around the country and around the globe. not only that, we'll give you a

chance to sound off about the issues of the day by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press or by sending us your comments on twitter at bpshow. we're on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. it is going to be quickening the pace and the debate on gun safety this week here in washington starting today. president obama is back from an impassioned speech last night at the university of connecticut up in hartford, connecticut. he urged, of course, the congress to follow the lead of the connecticut legislature and he's not the only one delivering that message. he brought back with him from hartford connecticut on air force i families of the victims of those little kids, they at sandy hook elementary school coming to washington to lobby the congress to take some effective action on gun safety. hard for congress to turn those people down. in other news, louisville beat out michigan to win the ncaa

championship last night. and the u.s. treasury department investigating beyoncé's trip to cuba. all of that and more right here on current tv. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern hershey's simple pleasures chocolate. 30% less fat, 100% delicious.

my relationship with water started when i was a kid. you think of how many people go to the ocean and for such different reasons. it attracts everyone but i think we're all attracted by one similar thing which is the horizon. ya know, there is nothing more peaceful than standing on the edge of the shore and looking out at that horizon. that place where blue meets blue. i'm a story teller. as a story teller i really think that adventure works to draw out people into a story. i have this long relationship with "national geographic". it's afforded me the opportunity to organize expeditions with their encouragement that have taken us by kayak literally around the world. historically a lot of people who go out on adventures go out for adventure's sake which i applaud. but this day and age i think you have to go out with a higher purpose. everywhere we went we talked to people about climate change, overfishing. all those things we've saw

we've seen literally everywhere we've gone. a big part of our motivation in going out and having these adventures is to bring back stories that we can share. ya know, the tools are incredibly important. technology has changed but the goal is the same. it is to enlighten people using adventure as the trigger. on each of these adventures, at one point, i'll just be sitting on a beach, looking at that horizon line and reminding myself how lucky i am to be able to be out there and to be both learning for myself and then sharing. i know that we're not going to change the world from the seat of a kayak but if i'm able to bring those stories back and share them and i manage to change the life of one person or two or three or four then it was totally worth it.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform?

>> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio an on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama back from hartford, connecticut saying if the connecticut legislature can do it, so can the congress, working on gun safety. it is tuesday april 9. this is the "full court press." booming out to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill, on your local progressive talk radio station.

how lucky if you've got one. and on current tv. good to see you this tuesday morning. it is a -- more than spring. it is almost a summer day here in our nation's capital. we just -- leapt over spring. cherry blossoms are totally out. great time to come to washington and you're here electronically even if you can't get here physically. we're glad you're part of the program. don't forget, you can join the conversation any time at 1-866-55-press. two-way street here on the "full court press." we want to hear from you. give us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com. there are so many issues today. so much going on. we couldn't possibly all do it ourselves. we need help. we found some help from the chief washington correspondent of yahoo! news, boy that sounds important. olivier knox. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: i think you should have some sort of a uniform.

>> that's my title only because moon face, purveyor of conventional wisdom was too long to fit on the business card. i have my coffee, my lung full of pollen and i'm ready to talk. >> bill: you're in d.c. >> i am. >> bill: with the team here, always with lungs full of pollen, peter ogborn and dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz has the folks. she's standing by to take your calls. and cyprian bowlding is here on the video cam as always. olivier, there was a little spoof yesterday a little late for an april fools but somebody put together a blog post announcing that joel osteen, the famed preacher had given up his career as a preacher and also given up his faith. he was checking out.

checking out. osteen found out about this. he immediately went forward to say no-no, it ain't so. don't believe it. >> april 1st is like new year's for drinkers. all of the amateur jokers come out on april 1st. >> really pull it off, you have to wait. >> bill: whoever did this, did. here's joel os stein. >> i still have my faith. nothing has changed. building was full on sunday. >> bill: people still came out to hear me. and joel osteen goes on, you know, victim of identity theft i guess. >> i'm really not angry. i don't feel like a victim. i think a lot of it is my personality. i feel i'm too blessed to let stuff like this get you down. >> bill: he's such a phony. to me, he wreaks insincerity in that voice. >> i think he pulled a joke and had lindsey graham issue a statement for him. they do sort of have that same real type of voice on them.

just real something, i don't know what you want to call it. >> nice illustration of dorothy parker. paraphrased, the opening thing worse than being joked about is not being joked about. you've arrived when you have a twitter account or spoofed. that means you're somebody. >> bill: i picked up one of his books once and i couldn't believe people pay money for that b.s. >> i'm not so sure about that guy. >> bill: i'm not either. we've got a lot to cover here this morning with olivier knox. robert borosage, the campaign for america's future will be joining us in about half hour to talk about the president's budget. but first... >> we're starting to learn what celebrities will be attending this month's white house correspondents' dinner here in washington. "usa today" yesterday announced they're bringing actresses courteney cox kristin chenoweth and kate walsh. also josh good who works in a fake white house. he stars in 1600 penn.

they're bringing elizabeth banks. nbc bringing matthew perry. abc bringing eric stonestreet among others from the modern family cast. george clooney and ben affleck have been heavily courted, some of the evening's biggest guests but they will definitely not be attending this year. >> bill: maybe you'll be able to get around the ballroom if george clooney isn't there. remind everybody, this is a dinner for the members of the white house press corps which i'm one and the people that they cover, meaning members of the administration or senators or members of congress. the movie stars don't really belong. >> i admire your effort to put the toothpaste back in the tube, bill. closing the barn door -- >> bill: it will never happen. >> it is never going to happen. celebrity event now. no one is against that more than i. >> every single year i convince myself i could not get any more

bored with these stories and every year i surprise myself. oh god i can't believe it. >> it is a painful event. an office party where important people from outside the office are invited. it is a double whammy, really. >> the new manager of the cleveland indians got lost on his way to work. terry francona got himself an apartment a few blocks from the indians ballpark and tried walking to the team's home opener against the yankees yesterday. told espn he got lost three times but he says in that experience, he found out cleveland has of some of the nicest fans he's ever met. they were all very helpful in trying to help him with something he did not experience in the eight years he worked in boston for the red sox. >> bill: like a fireman trying to find a firehouse right? >> a joke about how short their season is. that's why he doesn't know where the ballpark is.

>> you guys going to the game? can i follow you? >> it was an exciting 40 minutes of basketball in atlanta last night. louisville beating michigan for the ncaa national championship. 82-76. cardinals first title since 1986 and third overall and then they're going to try again tonight. that's the ladies, of course, lady cardinals facing off against u-conn. u-conn playing for its eighth national championship. >> bill: there we go. double up for louisville, huh? i didn't pick louisville in my women's bracket i must admit. >> i had u-conn. >> bill: i didn't have a women's bracket so there you go. sexist. olivier, the last time i saw you was in rome. actually, i didn't see you but you were there. you were there for pope francis. i enjoyed your -- not your tweets but your pool reports. >> the press corps designates someone to travel with the president and vice president and report back to the colleagues.

i was on air force ii on the trip to rome. >> is air force ii as comfortable as air force i? >> it's not but the atmosphere is more jovial. when the vice president comes back, he's a cheerful guy. he wants to talk. >> bill: what was it like? >> like a ping-pong table in the back of air force ii. >> i'm sworn to secrecy. >> damn it. >> bill: what was the ceremony like for the pope? how close were you? who else was on the delegation? >> i wasn't that close but we had a fantastic view, on the colonade that juts out from the main building of st. peter's so we were looking right down on the altar and the papal chair. we could see the cardinals and the archbishops and the ocean of people that came out for this event. i was reminded just how incredibly well the vatican does that kind of pomp and circumstance. it was an impressive event. >> bill: the vice president was --

>> among the v.i.p. guests from the political sphere. one side had the archbishops and the cardinals and representatives from other faiths. on the other side of the altar were the political leaders vite president biden -- vice president biden, vice president merkel of germany was there. it was a really big event. it was a beautiful day. all in all, it was just an impressive -- >> bill: how many how many days were you in rome? >> about 36 hours total i think. that's about right. we landed on a sunday. we had -- the vice president had meetings with various world leaders on monday and on tuesday, there was the papal installation mass and then we left. >> bill: oh, yeah, back home here huh? >> that's right. >> bill: that's when he and the president were out of the country at the same time. >> this annoys me. they were not out of the country at the same time. the vice president's flight path had him over u.s. soil long before he landed and he landed only about 2012 minutes after the president took off. so technically, all of that

sturm and drang was for nothing. >> so it was -- >> i can report it here first. i didn't even realize that was a thing until the next day. >> bill: people were making a big deal of it. my god, john boehner was in charge, you know. god forbid. >> yeah. no, we were actually over u.s. soil, over maine i guess it was, well before the president left. it was a nonstory. >> bill: newfoundland is not part of the -- >> not yet. >> we're coming, canada. >> bill: we have plans. [ laughter ] >> bill: the president certainly has plans. you know there is a theory, typical cynic in washington is the president's not serious about gun control or gun safety. he just wants this as an issue so republicans will fall on their sword and there will be no gun safety legislation which he will be just as happy with and republicans will get the blame

but if you heard him yesterday up in hartford, connecticut, he looks to me like somebody who is determined to get a vote on these measures. >> i don't think there's any doubt he's emotionally invested in this issue. he's given the two i can recall best last night and the other one about tackling gun violence. >> bill: in newtown. >> he's clearly emotionally invested. i don't think there's any doubt. >> bill: where he was for the first four years is another -- >> that's one question. the other one is courting college students in connecticut an effective strategy versus calling up key members of congress. the two are not incompatible. you can do both. but you know, i hear questions from democrats on the hill who basically are like where is he? why isn't he doing more? the white house people tell you we can't get too invested because otherwise it becomes an anti-obama thing. the republicans seem dead set on helping him out. you know, if it is true they're going to filibuster, that they're going to block background check expansions, an

issue favored by 90% of the public including a image opter of nra members, they could see some political costs down the line. >> bill: right. and a position which i find hard to understand, the republican party. the republican leadership including -- starting with mitch mcconnell. we're not just talking about ted cruz here. we're talking about people who are -- supposedly adults among the senate republicans. that they're not just going to vote no. they're going to filibuster to prevent a vote coming up. john mccain who's been pretty erratic on a lot of issues but on "face the nation" on sunday, he asked bob schieffer is it a good idea to filibuster the gun legislation. john mccain. >> i don't understand it. the purpose of the united states senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand. >> so you didn't encourage republicans -- >> i would not only encourage it, i don't understand it. what are we afraid of?

why not take up an amendment and debate it. the american people will profit from it. >> bill: makes a lot of sense. the president to his credit has been careful to say all i want is a vote. he lays out what would be the ideal but he wants a vote. >> that was the purpose of last night's extremely emotional speech in connecticut. this is not about me, the president said. this is just about acting on something for the american people for the families of the victims. let's have an up-or-down vote as opposed to a filibuster or procedural hurdle basically. >> what do the republicans think to the extent you can figure it out? what do they think they're gaining by filibustering a senate bill? >> a lot of them think the background check process as currently proposed, would lead to a national registry of guns. there is not a ton of evidence but if you talk to gun owners around the country it is amazing how many of them, the first response is he's coming to take my shotgun my hunting rifle. so the white house hasn't done

that great a job of selling them on this. there was that piece in "the new york times" on sunday by a major dnc pollster who said gosh, look at this. we polled and we found that americans don't know, for example, that if you're on the terrorism watch list, you can still buy a gun. i think there are some real questions about how this administration and how democrats in general move to educate the american public or bring them around to their view. it is not enough to get up and say newtown was a tragedy. that is a consensus view. but you need to take more steps and if, you know, my in-laws the delaware -- the fine, fine folks are convinced in fact, this is just a step down a path to taking away their gun. it is important to see -- >> bill: first of all what county in delaware do they live in? >> i can't go -- i'm not going to give you their street address. they are in northern delaware. >> bill: northern delaware. if they were in southern delaware, i would understand. harder to understand if they're in northern delaware.

>> bill is the unofficial -- >> bill: the fact that -- also from northern delaware -- but also we had a house in southern delaware too. but i digress. the fact is that there are gun checks now at the gun stores. there is no gun registry, right? so no. maybe again, i would agree with you. the administration has done a good enough job explaining. so this argument doesn't stand up because if there's no gun registry with all of the gunshops, there won't be if we expand it to gun shows. >> this may be an issue where we have to have an equivalent of nixon going to china, have a republican president pushing some of the ideas if they're going to happen. i'm obviously not taking a position whether they should or not. >> bill: it still doesn't get down to the fundamental question, i don't see what republicans are gaining by filibustering, not allowing a vote. >> they're making one calculation but as a national party rebranding background checks doesn't seem like the hill to i don't on.

>> bill: exactly. olivier knox from yahoo! news. we're just beginning the issues of the day and talking budget later with robert borosage. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar.

>>current will let me say anything.

>> bill: this is the "bill press show." tuesday, april 9. olivier knox, yahoo! news chief washington correspondent in studio with us. >> you can find us on twitter at bpshow. at bpshow. edna writes in about the "60 minutes" episode that aired over the weekend when they talked to a lot of the parents from newtown. i watched "60 minutes" and i

cried. i had written editorials trying to get senators to vote on gun safety. she's the concerned mother of five. she reached out to us on twitter at bpshow. people care. >> bill: olivier your lead story on yahoo! news politics today is the u.s. working to de-escalate a north korean standoff. what is going on? is this real serious or just bluster on the part of kim jong-un? >> it could be both. and that's sort of a cheap d.c. trick. you do have to worry about this. nuclear-armed state, it is a state with conventional artillery that can reach seoul south korea. you have to take them seriously. the reason i wrote the piece did i was last week, they had a robust response. they announced they were deploying missile defense frigates. they announced for the first time that b-2 stealth bombers and b-52 bombers had taken part in the exercise and dropped munitions.

it was a robust response, right? late in the week though, they started to de-escalate the crisis. they've started to mute the messages out of washington. and now, my sources tell me, it is not a formal review but the administration is looking at steps that might further inflame this and opting not to take them. i see the test that was canceled, the missile test canceled over the weekend. there are some warship deployments that won't happen or won't be announced. they are muting some of the rhetoric out of washington. the idea is not to give the north koreans an excuse to ratchet up this crisis. >> bill: so not falling into his trap. >> essentially right. that's essentially right. i'm concerned. one of the early concerns was south koreans obviously feel threatened. what if some lieutenant colonel of the south korean army pulls the trigger on the artillery piece. here's thunder. >> bill: north korea could do something provocative. >> so easily.

>> bill: we'll be back with robert borosage. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour now on a tuesday april 9. it is the "full court press" coming to you live across this nation's capital coast-to-coast. from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. headline this morning senator bernie sanders vowing to fight obama's social security cuts.

he's talking about the chain cpi included in the president's budget. we know that. it has been leaked even though the president will not be releasing his budget until tomorrow. here's a man who's probably read the whole damn thing and knows it by heart. robert, great to see you. thanks for coming in. joining us here with olivier knox, our "friend of bill" for this hour. chief washington correspondent for yahoo! news. so robert, here's what i keep hearing from my fellow liberals, right. if the president says social security ought to be off the table, doesn't contribute to the deficit, why has he put chain cpi which will cause some cuts in social security benefits, why is it in the proposal? >> yeah, the chain cpi basically slows the adjustment to inflation. so at the point you reach the timing, you have the least amount of money if you're lucky enough to live to be 85, you

suffer a $1,000 a year cut. the average benefit is $$14,000. that's a very big cut. why put it on the table? he puts it on the table by the white house's own words. as a preemptive concession to republicans to show he's serious about wanting a grand bargain that will trade cuts in social security, cuts in medicare, cuts in domestic programs including education for $600 billion in tax hikes which is the president's current figure. >> bill: or new revenue. >> or new revenue. loophole closings, whatever. this is an odd process. most negotiators start by putting forward what they want. the president explicitly said -- the white house explicitly says this isn't what we want. this is what we think we ought to get. they're starting with a compromise before they've started to negotiate with anyone

which is not auspicious. >> bill: in fact, i want to get to -- jump in here with your questions, olivier. just to put an asterisk on that, maybe, here is jay carney at the briefing, yesterday's briefing -- i'm sorry, this was friday, the first time that this leaked out about the chain cpi admitting basically that this is not what they want. >> it is not the president's ideal budget proposal. it is a budget proposal that represents a good faith compromise position. >> bill: so he's caving in before he makes his first amends. >> it is pretty fantastic. i want to get back to the idea. why should the average american listening to this debate care about this budget? it is not a family budget. not like you sit down with your spouse and say we're going to -- it is a mission statement. it is a mission statement. why should the average american worry about what the president is proposing here? >> that's why it is the most important in some ways. the president is saying that his

basic mission the thing he's put focus on is austerity a grand bargain to reduce spending and raise revenue over time. this comes when we have more than 20 million people in need of full-time work. when we see a recovery that's already been lame now looking like it may well be crippled by the sequester that's taking place. and where we ought to be making the fundamental reforms we need to make this economy work for working families again. instead of the president the great educator releasing a mission statement that says this is what i'm focused on. by their own roll-out, has release admission statement that says i'm focused on preemptive compromise with the republicans on things i don't believe in like cutting social security over time. in order to get a deal. we ought to be concerned about it because we desperately need the leadership necessary and it is going to take huge political fights. you can't have the fight without the leadership.

>> bill: you're talking about a second stimulus? >> not just a stimulus. we need to get the economy going. we need to put people to work. there's fundamental things we need to do to make it work over time. we have to a totally decrepit infrastructure. you can't compete as a high wage economy unless you have a 21st century infrastructure. we have an opportunity now to rebuild that by borrowing money at the lowest interest rates on record. we ought to be getting to work on that and do it for several years to rebuild this thing to make our economy more efficient. we've got to educate the next generation. instead, we're cutting teachers, we're laying them off. we're closing schools. we don't do even the basics in education from pre-k to affordable college. we ought to be putting resources into that. we need to get a different manufacturing strategy and a different trade strategy on how we live in the world so we balance our trade and start building things in america again. there is a set of fundamental reforms you would want to be laying out in this crisis for americans that we've got to get

to. and having a discussion about whether we're going to cut social security which is bad policy and bad politics, strikes me as a distraction at best. >> bill: two ways, i think olivier, we can look at this and robert. one is process and the other is substance. talk about process, i had lunch yesterday with a group of labor union presidents, some of our major labor unions. they were saying they're in negotiations all the time. when you enter negotiations, you don't start by saying here's what we'll settle on. so why would the president -- and he's -- this is the grand bargain that he once offered john boehner which was rejected by john boehner so just from a process point of view, why start where they started? >> i have no idea. >> the republicans look like the unreasonable party. the plan -- the plan as

configured, not as implemented this is meant to cast the president as the reasonable party in the nation's debates. you know, there's obviously -- >> bill: i just realized, this was your headline i was reading. i'm sorry i didn't give you credit. >> that's really interesting. he's really -- he's really ticked off his base here and one of the most interesting questions i'm asking myself as a political reporter is at what point do senate democrats decide their interest in the white house, their interests cease to overlap? >> that's pretty clear. any democrat who is in a contested race next fall that supports the president's budget is going to be flooded with ads by our republican challenger saying he wants to cut social security. and seniors vote in large numbers and by elections and we got killed in 2010, democrats got killed because republicans spun the lie that they were cutting medicare with the money they took out of medicare advantage plans.

well now, they're going to have the truth that the president wants and apparently if somebody supports him wants to cut social security. that will be a political debacle. so i don't think this is good politics. i also don't think it is good policy. it is important to remember that social security doesn't contribute to this deficit. it is not really in big trouble. it is pretty easy to change. you can put it together. and sustain it. our benefits are not too high. they are too low. they are lower than any other industrial country in terms of replacement of income. they ought to be raised. we ought to be talking about reforms particularly with the disappearance of the pension system and inability of americans to save with stagnant wages. we ought to be talking about those that expand social security benefits. >> the white house says, you know, we would like to lead but we also need to govern. you've heard all of these -- lines. >> the president's greatest power is as an educator. he has the bully pulpit.

if you use the bully pull put to put out a compromised position you don't believe in, you're relinquishing our greatest pour without exercising it. he must rally americans to deal with the crisis we face with this economy. this economy for working families when it was growing under bush. it's got to get fundamental changes and we're not having that discussion. >> bill: on the substance side of it, i've heard at the briefings, so much talk about these tax loopholes. special interest tax loopholes whether they're for billionaires, tax advantage for parking their money off in the cayman islands or whatever. or for oil companies who get to continue oil depletion allowance and the loophole that don't make sense. closing the loopholes. if it is the right thing to do, right, why do you have to trade it for cuts in social security and medicare. >> the white house would argue that they have to be in agreement to get it through the

house. >> bill: not raising taxes. you're not -- so the president's already conceded on that. he's not raising anybody's taxes. getting rid of the -- of these give aways which cost us money. >> which are opposed by about 85% of the population. >> i was talking to a -- he's concerned that a tax deal at the end of 2012 technically has made it impossible to get to this so-called grand bargain because now there are no winners from what appears to be the compromise position of reducing discretionary spending, entitlement cuts and tax increase. and so i would like your thoughts on that as well. it seems like a plausible argument to make. he said there are no winners now except for the inside of the beltway deficit hawks. is that a reasonable take? >> i hope that's true. we don't want a grand bargain. we want to rebuild this economy and get it going again. our long-term debt question is

entirely a question of getting healthcare costs under control. if we spent per capita, what europe spends every industrial country spends on healthcare with better healthcare results we would be projecting right now surpluses as far as the eye can see. so what we want is to get rid of this debate about a grand bargain and focus on what we need to do to make the economy work and focus like a laser on getting our healthcare costs under control which means taking on the insurance companies taking on the drug companies entrenched hospital complexes that drive our costs on everything we do far higher than the rest of the industrialized world pays. >> bill: yeah, that is the number one driver of the cost. no doubt about it. robert borosage is the codirector of campaign for america's future in studio with us. it is our future.org is the web site. then yahoo!.com, olivier knox, chief white house correspondent washington correspondent. we'll be right back. your calls welcome at

1-866-55-press. what is going on with the president's budget and this imperfect document he's put forward or will tomorrow? we'll be right back. april 9. >> on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

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i think the number one thing

that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: here we go. 12 minutes before the top of the hour with olivier knox from yahoo! news and robert borosage, campaign for america's future. we're trying to either fix or destroy the president's budget.

before it is even released tomorrow. robert overall question to me, love both of you to comment on it are we overplaying the problem with the deficit? is it the number one problem facing this country? >> not at all. look, if we believe in markets what the market is saying is the deficit's not a problem at all. we can borrow money at near zero. investors are throwing their money into treasuries as a safe harbor in a world that's a mess. europe's going under. japan is a mess. we're the strongest economy out there. so there's no sign from the markets, if you believe in markets, that the deficit's a problem. in fact, the deficit's been coming down faster any time since the demobilization after world war ii. it has been coming down too fast so we don't have the recovery we need out of the worst recession since the great depression and the recovery has slowed because government's a drag on it and it

is an increasing drag on it. so we ought to be getting out of this austerity fix. we've seen what real austerity does in europe. it drove every country that implemented it into recession. it cuts jobs. it costs jobs. so we ought to be focused on what's the strategy that makes the economy work and what's the strategy that makes our long-term books get in order. the latter is not about deficits. it is about healthcare costs. >> bill: it does seem, olivier, with this white house there is a fixation on deficit and -- >> sort of. as we sit here and speak treasury secretary jack lew is in europe urging european to back off austerity. it is part of what's stalling global growth. you need to ease up on the belt tightening. so the administration has a dual message. i would say that from a political perspective, it is a monster problem because its

existence is making a lot of americans say no, you know, that's the biggest problem, we shouldn't be spending more money. >> bill: but they don't say that. you ask people what the number one problem in the country is, people won't say the deficit. >> pew put it at two and three in the list of -- >> jobs in the economy. >> jobs and the economy is first. >> it is high up there. it is rising. >> that's because the leader of the democratic party and the leader of the republican party both say the most important problem in the world is the deficit. people are being miseducated. people believe deficit is important because they think if you reduce it, it will help create jobs which is wrong. they think that if we don't get it under control, people will cut social security and medicare which they're about to do. so, you know, people's understanding of this is flawed but sensible given where leadership has been. we had a total consensus in march of '09 across the world about expanding economies

deficit spending, it is time to get out of this recession. in six months with unemployment still at over 20 million mass unemployment the president turns and starts talking about deficit reduction. knocks the stilts out of any possibility of doing more job stuff. and he turns us into the clown show that was the simpson-bowles commission et cetera. and the public gets that american citizens, following the guy they elected get miseducated. >> they're trying to turn that around now a little bit. on saturday, in his weekly address, the president -- i hadn't heard him be quite so specific about the deficit saying it is coming down. it is coming down quickly. you know, it is not the kind of hair on fire problem we've been hearing from me, parentheses. but i think it poses a political problem chiefly for democrats. >> bill: talk a little bit about -- come back to the politics of the moment. when the president's budget comes out and again, it is not

a document that does anything. it is a policy document. what recession is -- reception is it going to get on capitol hill among democrats? >> what's the fastest what's the shortest increment of time in washington, d.c.? it is the time, the space of time between the president propose -- a president proposing a budget and someone using the phrase "dead on arrival." the shortest -- there is no shorter increment of time. >> bill: it is a mini second. >> land with a thud. dead on arrival whatever you want. democrats aren't really going to like it. senate democrats have passed their budget. they're not going to like it. in the past, this president hasn't fared all that well to getting democrats to pass this budget. >> bill: can democrats in congress change the course, robert? and get a different direction or different focus? >> well, they can -- they can change the course if there's no deal. the question is can the president get a deal with republicans? and i -- thus far the republicans have said it is dead

on arrival too so hopefully we'll avoid that. >> bill: i think we see the chances of getting another deal are probably zero and maybe that's the best thing. okay robert. so great to see you. again, it is our future.org and olivier, welcome back any time. see you down at the white house. olivier knox, chief washington correspondent. i love saying that. for yahoo! news. and i will be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, as we've just

been talking the president's budget comes out tomorrow. most of it has already been leaked and it is bad news. one last attempt to convince john boehner to compromise, the president has proposed cuts in both social security and medicare in his budget. in return for raising new revenue by closing special interest tax loopholes. white house admits it is not a perfect plan but they want to show they're reasonable. a big mistake for at least three reasons. one, the president promised not to touch social security and medicare. now he's break his promise. and two he tried and tried and tried to compromise with boehner and boehner always said no. it is not -- it didn't work then, it isn't going to work now. three, closing the special interest loopholes is the right thing to do, period. seniors should not have to be penalized or pay any price for getting rid of those special interest tax loopholes. the president's budget is so bad when it comes out tomorrow, it

should be shot down immediately by democrats not republicans. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."